Dyeing of pile fabrics



May 25, 1965 H. D. SHORT ETAL DYEING OF FILE FABRICS 5 Sheets-Shee t 1 Filed Oct. 19. 1962 Inventors w M m a f A i 4 Z, a 1 3m ma May 25, 1965 H. D. SHORT ETAL 3,185,084

DYEING OF FILE FABRICS I Filed Oct. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L? Inventor:

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United States Patent 3,185,684 DYEZNG 0F ELF. FABRHE Howard Dempster Short and Sandor Major, Brighouse, England, assignors to Kosset Carpets Limited, Brighouse, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Get. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 231,776 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 25, 1961,

38,249/61 7 (:laims. ((1 101-115) This invention relates to the dyeing of pile fabric particularly carpet and is concerned with the application of coloured designs as set out in U.S. Patents Nos. 2,816,811 and 2,984,540.

These specifications describe the use of a printing form comprising a number of flat receptacles separated by thin upstanding walls which define the designs or pattern to be applied to the carpet. Colouring agent is supplied to each receptacle and the pile of the carpet is then caused to enter the receptacles, the absorption of the colouring agent being assisted by the compression of the pile as described in the second specification.

According to the present invention colouring agent is supplied to the receptacles from above by means in pipes, each leading from a separate metering device connected to a source of the respective colouring agent. Each receptacle is filled by means of one or more such pipes according to its area and this with the appropriate adjustment of the metering devices enables each receptacle to be supplied with a volume of colouring agent proportional to its area. By filling the receptacles from above in this way the need for openings in the bottoms of the receptacles is avoided thus simplifying the construction of the printing form. Before the carpet or other pile fabric may be brought into engagement with the printing form the filling pipes must, of course, be removed from immediately above the form. Preferably this is achieved by moving the form laterally until it is clear of the filling pipes after which the fabric may be pressed into contact with the form.

Thus apparatus for carrying out the method in accordance with the invention includes an assembly of downwardly directed pipes mounted above a support for the form and in order to produce the necessary lateral movement of the form a horizontally reciprocating slide is arranged beneath this assembly of pipes. Once the form has been charged with colouring agent it is moved away from the filling pipes and is then pressed into engagement with the pile fabric which is arranged above it. Most simply the fabric itself is stationary during this step and the form is raised into engagement With it by mounting the apparatus as a whole on a vertically movable table. Consequently when the form is in position beneath the fabric the table carrying the form, the reciproeating slide and the arrangement of filling pipes is raised in a vertical direction to press the form against the fabric which is backed by a stationary platen.

As mentioned originally each filling pipe has its own metering device and since a relatively large number of such pipes is required, for example, 500 in an area of one square yard it is necessary that the metering devices should be small and simple. For this purpose each metering device may comprise a piston valve having a body which is closed except for an upwardly extending capillary tube and movement of the piston in one direction allows colouring agent to flow under gravity from a reservoir into the body of the valve until it reaches a level which is pre-set by the position of the bottom of the capillary tube while movement in the other direction discharges the colouring agent into the respective receptacle of the printing form. A group of piston valves may then be operated "ice simultaneously by common mechanism. Such a construction provides a very simple but nevertheless effective form of metering device since the quantity of colouring agent is determined solely by the position of the bottom of the capillary tube. As mentioned above the body of the valve is otherwise completely closed and as soon as the liquid level rises to the bottom of the tube entry of air through the tube is cut off and thereafter the only additional liquid to flow from the reservoir isthat necessary to raise the level in the capillary tube to that of the liquid in the reservoir. For practical purposes the volume of liquid held by the capillary tube may be ignored so that the ettective volume of colouring agent is held by the valve body is limited by the position of the bottom of the tube. By adjusting the level of the bottom of the tube so the quantity of colouring agent may be adjusted.

A construction of apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the apparatus as a whole;

FIG. 2 is a fragmetary view in vertical section taken on line lili of PEG. 1 with the portion of the apparatus illustrated being drawn to a slightly larger scale than FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section view illustrating one of the metering devices employed in the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, but being drawn to a larger scale than FIGS. 1 and 2.

The apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 corresponds largely to that of FIGURE 10 of the copending application No. 193,669 filed May 8, 1962 except in the filling arrange ments for the printing form. In the construction of the earlier application the printing formis filled from below and the arrangements for this are not illustrated in detail. According to the present invention the printing form is filled from above by means of a filling arrangement indicated generally as 1 which is supported by a bracket 2 from a table 3 capable of movement in a vertical direction under the control of a hydraulic ram 4. Generally speaking, the present invention may be utilized in conjunction with the application of dyes or colouring agents to a pile fabric as described in detail .in the copending application just mentioned and for present purposes it is sutficient to say that the carpet or other pile fabric to be dyed 5 is led beneath a stationary platen and is passed around rollers 7, S and 9. The table 3 is arranged to be traversed across the width of the carpet by means of lead screws 10, moving on guides 11 on a base 12. As the table 3 is moved in both a horizontal and a vertical direction so the complete filling apparatus 1 is moved with it.

The printing form 15 is supported on a horizontally reciprocating slide 16 which is driven by means of a lead screw 17 turned by gearing 18 from an electric motor 19. The slide 16 is guided on the table 3 by means of guides 20 seen in FIGURE 2.

In operation the receptacles of the printing form 15 are filled by means of the apparatus 1 while the form is occupying the position shown in dotted lines as 15'. As soon as the receptacles are full the slide 16 is moved to the left into the position shown in full lines and as soon as this position is reached the table 3 is raised under the control of the ram 4 to press the form 15 against the underside of the carpet 5 which is arranged with its tufts downwardly. The table 3 is then lowered, the slide 16 returned to the filling position and the process repeated for successive areas of the carpet as described in the earlier application. The apparatus 1 for filling the receptacles of the printing form constitutes the main subject matter of the present invention and will now be described in more detail.

The apparatus comprises a number of metering devices in the form of piston valves 25. As mentioned previously a considerable number of such devices is re quired, for example, 500 over an area of one yard square. For simplicity only a smaller number of such device is illustrated in the drawings which show eight rows of eight devices, i.e. a total of sixty four such devices. These are all supported on a plate 26 carried by legs 27 extending upwardly from the bracket 2. Each metering device 25 has a filling pipe 28, the lower end of which is located by means of a perforated plate 29 supported between the legs 27. The pipes 28 are flexible and by the provision of numerous perforations in the plate 29 the discharge points of the pipes 28 can be adjusted as required to suit the design of the receptacles of the form 15. In other words the filling apparatus may be adapted to suit any variation of printing form with a minimum of trouble and without the need to alter the position of the metering devices 25 themselves in any way. Depending on the area of each receptacle so it may require to be filled from two, three or more of the metering devices but there is no difiiculty in adjusting the filling pipes 28 in a corresponding manner. All that is necessary is to adjust the metering devices themselves so that the total quantity of colouring agent which is metered corresponds to the area of the receptacle in question.

In order to permit the ready adjustment of each metering device it is constructed as shown in more detail in FIGURE 3.

36 which is slidably mounted in an upper closure 37, being fitted with a small sealing ring 38 to prevent any leakage. The valve has a piston 39 operated by a piston rod 40 which is fitted with a sealing ring 41 and which is biased upwardly by a compression spring 42 acting etween the closure 37 and an enlarged end piece 43 on the end of the rod 40. The rod is moved downwardly against the effect of the spring 42 by means of a tappet 44 mounted on a rod 45 turning between a pair of flanges 46 extending upwardly from a plate 47.

The inlet to the valve is through the side of the body at 48 and in the uppermost position of the piston the inlet is closed as shown in FIGURE 3. The piston 39 has a downwardly extending spigot 49 which seals the outlet from the valve 50 which is fitted with a sealing ring 51 cooperating with the spigot 49. In addition the piston 39 is formed with a pair of axial passages 52. When the piston 39 is in its lowest position the upper edge of the piston liesjust below the lower edge of the inlet 48 .so that the latter is unobstructed and colouring agent is able to flow into the body of the valve through a pipe 55. As best seen from FIGURE 2 each pipe 55 leads to a reservoir 56 for the colouring agent which in its turn is supplied by way of a pipe .57 through a constant lever valve 58. As many reservoirs 56 are fitted as there are colours in the design which is to be applied to the tufted fabric. Only one such reservoir is shown in FIGURE 2 but successive reservoirs may be mounted behind that shown in the drawing and for simplicity all of these are omitted from FIGURE 1.

Consequently when the piston 39 is in its lowest position colouring agent is able to flow from the reservoir 56 and into the valve body 35, the displaced air passing upwardly along the capillary tube 36. When the'level of colouring agent reaches the bottom of the capillary tube the air above this level is trapped and as a consequence the liquid level in the body of the valve does not rise by any appreciable amount. Avery small quantity of additional colouring agent therefore flows into the valve body until the capillary tube 36 is filled to a level corresponding to the level 60 of liquid in the reservoir 56. For all practical purposes this additional quantity of colouring agent which fiows into the capillary tube can be ignored 'and the overall result is that the valve is supplied with a quantity of coluring agent which is determined by the level of the bottom of the capillary tube. By adjusting Each device comprises a cylindrical body. 35 which is completely closed except for a capillary tube the capillary tube 36 in a vertical direction so the quantity of colouring agent can be varied correspondingly.

As soon as all the metering devices 25 are filled the apparatus as a whole is ready to discharge metered quantities of colouring agent to the printing form 15. This is achieved under control of the tappets 44 which allow the springs 42 to raise the piston 39 to the position shown in FIGURE 3. As the piston 39 rises the inlet 48 is progressively closed but owing to the length of the spigot 49 the outlet 50 is not opened until the closing of the inlet is complete. At that stage the charge of colouring agent held in the body of the valve flows downwardly through the passages 52, through the outlet 50 and then down the pipe 28 into the respective receptacle on the printing form.

As can be seen from FIGURE 1 each rod extends across the width of the filling apparatus between the flanges 46 and consequenlty controls the tappets 44 for a complete row of metering devices 25. As seen from FIGURE 2 each rod 45 is connected by a crank arm 66 to an operating link 67 which in its turn is connected to the rod 68 of a pneumatic cylinder 70. The rods 45 are divided into two groups, that on the right side of FIGURE 2 being controlled by a link shown as 67' operated by a pneumatic cylinder 70' seen in FIGURE 1. The two pneumatic cylinders 70 and 76 are operated independently of one another and by operating only one cylinder only one group of metering devices is operated to fill a corresponding proportion of the printing form. If the printing form is constructed with a wall dividing it into two equal halves it thus becomes possible to fill only one half of the form and thus to dye half a repeat of the pattern on the fabric. As previously described the form is normally one yard square permitting the dyeing of carpets having widths which are multiples of one yard but by filling only half the form as just described carpets of intermediate widths such as 7%. or 10%. feet can be dyed equally easily.

Returning to the details of the metering devices as shown in FIGURE 3 it will be seen that each has a solid base portion 75 secured to the plate 26 and within which is formed the outlet and also the inlet 48. The latter after passing through the side of the body of the valve then extends vertically downwardly to its connection with the pipe 55. The respective joints are formed between male portions 76 and 77 extending downwardly from the part 75 through openings inthe support plate 26. These male portions fit into enlarged end pieces 78 and 79 respectively of the pipes and 28 to form readily releasable connections and thus to facilitate assembly of the apparatus as a Whole.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric with the pile facing downwardly is supported above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination which comprises:

(a) a support positioned beneath said length of pile fabric;

(b) a slide movably mounted on said frame and carrying a printing form having upwardly facing open receptacles thereon;

(c) said slide and the printing form being movable on the support in a horizontal plane from a first position beneath the length of pile fabric to be dyed to a second position where the printing form is removed from beneath the fabric and the open receptacles thereon are .ina position to be filled from above with measured quantities of coloring agents,

(d) a plurality of metering devices corresponding in number to the number of receptacles on the printing form positioned above the printing form at said second position of the form,

(2) each of said metering devices being connected to a source of a coloring agent, and

(f) conduit means leading from each of the metering devices to a point immediately above one of the open receptacles on the printing form.

2. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination as defined in claim 1 whrein:

(a) each of the metering devices is individually adjustable for delivery of a measured quantity of the coloring agent therefrom proportioned to the area of the receptacle to be filled therefrom.

3. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination as defined in claim 1 wherein:

(a) the conduit means leading from each of the receptacles comprises a flexible pipe having an end which is movable to different positions relative to the printing form.

4. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination as defined in claim 1 which includes (a) means for selectively operating the metering devices in delivery of measured quantities of the coloring agents therefrom to selected groups of the receptacles on the printing form.

5. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein, a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination as defined in claim 1 which includes:

(a) means for selectively operating the metering devices in delivery of measured quantities of the coloring agents therefrom to selected groups of the receptacles on the printing form, and

(b) means for adjustably positioning the conduit means relative to the printing form at said second position thereof.

6. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface with a plurality of open receptacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the combination as defined in claim 1 wherein:

(a) each of the metering devices comprises an upright cylinder having an inlet and an outlet at a lower end thereof and a closed upper end,

(5) a piston movable mounted in said cylinder and being movable between an inlet opening and outlet blocking position and an inlet blocking and outlet opening position,

(c) a capillary tube extending through said closed upper end of the cylinder and being adjustable lengthwise relative to the cylinder.

7. In an apparatus for dyeing pile fabric wherein a length of pile fabric is supported with the pile facing downwardly above a printing form having an upwardly facing printing surface and a plurality of open recep tacles for containing coloring agents formed thereon by thin upstanding walls defining a design to be applied to the fabric, the improvement which comprises:

(a) a support located beneath said length of pile fabric,

(b) a slide movably mounted on said support and carrying the printing form;

(0) said slide with the printing form carried thereon being movable on the support between a firs Lposi tion beneath the length of pile fabric to be dyed and a second position where the printing form is removed from beneath the fabric and the open receptacles thereon are in a position to be filled with measured quantities of coloring agents,

(d) a plurality of metering devices corresponding in number to the number of receptacles on the printing form supported above the printing form at said second position of the form,

(e) each of said metering devices being individually adjustable and being connected to a source of a coloring agent, i

(f) conduit means leading from each of the metering devices to a point immediately above one of the open receptacles on the printing form at said second position thereof, and

(g) means for moving the printing form into and out of printing engagement with the fabric at said first mentioned position of the form.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 362,393 5/87 Muller 222-442 X 537,923 4/95 Hildyard 101-115 585,179 6/97 Bloemecke 251-325 1,878,565 9/32 Woodbury 101-170 1,883,364 10/32 Gaskin 101-170 2,187,420 1/40 George 101-170 2,292,569 8/42 King 101-170 2,984,540 5/61 Tillet et a1. 8-148 3,055,296 9/62 Farrow 101-151 FOREIGN PATENTS 855,182 11/52 Germany. EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. ROBERT E. PULFREY, Examiner. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR DYEING PILE FABRIC WHEREIN A LENGTH OF PILE FABRIC WITH THE PILE FACING DOWNWARDLY IS SUPPORTED ABOVE A PRINTING FORM HAVING AN UPWARDLY FACING PRINTING SURFACE AND A PLURALITY OF OPEN RECEPTACLES FOR CONTAINING COLORING AGENTS FORMED THEREON BY THIN UPSTANDING WALLS DEFINING A DESIGN TO BE APPLIED TO THE FABRIC, THE COMBINATION WHICH COMPRISES: (A) A SUPPORT POSITIONED BENEATH SAID LENGTH OF PILE FABRIC; (D) A SLIDE MOVABLE MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND CARRYING A PRINTING FORM HAVING UPWARDLY FACING OPEN RECEPTACLES THEREON; (C) SAID SLIDE AND THE PRINTING FORM BEING MOVABLE ON THE SUPPORT IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE FROM A FIRST POSITION BENEATH THE LENGTH OF PILE FABRIC TO BE DYED TO A SECOND POSITION WHERE THE PRINTING FORM IS REMOVED FROM BENEATH THE FABRIC AND THE OPEN RECEPTACLES THEREON ARE IN A POSITION TO BE FILLED FROM ABOVE WITH MEASURED QUANTITIES OF COLORING AGENTS, (D) A PLURALITY OF METERING DEVICES CORRESPONDING IN NUMBER TO THE NUMBER OF RECEPTACLES ON THE PRINTING FORM POSITIONED ABOVE THE PRINTING FORM AT SAID SECOND POSITION OF THE FORM, (E) EACH OF SAID METERING DEVICES BEING CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF A COLORING AGENT, AND (F) CONDUIT MEANS LEADING FROM EACH OF THE METERING DEVICES TO A POINT IMMEDIATELY ABOVE ONE OF THE OPEN RECEPTACLES ON THR PRINTING FORM. 